Congress recessed without taking action on Senate Finance Committee staff proposals outlined in a July discussion draft. However, the Finance Committee is pursuing the nonprofit accountability issues. It has asked Independent Sector (IS) to form a panel to recommend measures that would increase accountability and good governance in the sector. Independent Sector recently announced its panel, comprised of 25 nonprofit and philanthropic leaders from both public charities and private foundations. Independent Sector's president, Diana Aviv, will serve as executive director, and Patricia Read, IS's senior vice president for public policy and government affairs, is the project's director. The panel will establish two advisory groups, one of prominent community leaders, including those from other sectors. The second advisory group will include a range of academic and legal advisors. The Panel will also create five working groups to study and provide recommendations on issues involved in governance, transparency and financial accountability. Specifically, the five working groups are:

• Governance
• Legal analysis
• Oversight (IRS, state issues, self-governance issues)
• Transparency
• Small organizations.

Independent Sector is currently raising money from community and private foundations, as well as public charities, to fund this endeavor. The funds, exclusively managed by IS, will be devoted entirely to the project.